Patrick Soderlund – VG247http://www.vg247.com
VG247.comFri, 09 Dec 2016 21:47:52 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3EA Studios boss also had doubts about Battlefield 1 and trench warfarehttp://www.vg247.com/2016/05/18/battlefield-1-trench-warfare/
http://www.vg247.com/2016/05/18/battlefield-1-trench-warfare/#respondWed, 18 May 2016 01:38:35 +0000https://www.vg247.com/?p=583327World War I was not just trench warfare. Can we please move on from this already?

EA Studios boss also had doubts about Battlefield 1 and trench warfare

“When the team presented the idea to me of World War I, I absolutely rejected it,” he told investors at a recent briefing, as reported by Gamespot.

“I said World War I, it’s trench warfare; it can’t be fun to play.”

The executive later came around to DICE’s point of view, obviously, and assured investors that the setting is the right choice.

“If you look at what other partners in the industry are doing, they’re going into sci-fi; we’ve had a lot of success in the modern military space. But we felt like there was a need for a change,” he said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2016/05/18/battlefield-1-trench-warfare/feed/0Could we ever see another Dead Space game? “Absolutely” says Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/06/17/dead-space-4-could-we-ever-see-it-absolutely-says-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/06/17/dead-space-4-could-we-ever-see-it-absolutely-says-soderlund/#commentsTue, 17 Jun 2014 10:55:49 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=479172Dead Space seems to be drifting off into the darkness of space, what with Visceral Games now flexing its trigger arm with Battlefield: Hardline, but EA’s Patrick Soderlund isn’t ruling out a return to the series.

Now, speaking with Polygon, EA Studios executive vice president Soderlund touched on the way the publisher’s first-party teams share projects and approach different franchises, including Visceral’s work on Dead Space.

“To the largest extent we can, we want to get the game teams to work on the things they want to work on themselves,” he told the site. “There’s an incredible amount of enthusiasm over Hardline and the Star Wars game at Visceral.

“Do I think that we will create a Dead Space game again? Yes, I think so. But when we do so, we have to think about what made the previous ones successful and how we go about envisioning Dead Space for a new generation.

“Now, I’m not announcing a Dead Space game. We’re not building one just to be very clear, but I’m saying is there an opportunity or possibility to do one in the future? Absolutely.”

Would you like to see Dead Space return, perhaps in a return to its true horror roots? Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/06/17/dead-space-4-could-we-ever-see-it-absolutely-says-soderlund/feed/3EA’s Peter Moore grabs $3,453,140 in post-financials stock dumphttp://www.vg247.com/2014/05/12/ea-execs-unload-shares/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/05/12/ea-execs-unload-shares/#respondMon, 12 May 2014 19:14:43 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=471260Peter Moore and Patrick Soderlund are among the top executives at EA who have sold their stake at the firm, according to Securities & Exchange forms filed during the past week following the earnings call of Q4 FY2014.

Patrick Soderlund, executive vice-president of EA Games and Stephen Bene, EA general counsel, have both sold their entire share of stocks in the firm. An amount of 36,133 shares and 7,771 shares respectively. The proceeds acquired by Soderlund as a result of the sale were valued at $1,247,936, while Bene made out with $259,555.

EA’s COO Peter Moore was also among those who sold their shares, selling about half of his shares which amounted to $3,453,140.

The following investor call was transcribed by Seeking Alpha, and includes a few lines from Soderlund on how EA will use the lessons learned from Battlefield 4’s launch to ensure future products – like Titanfall – launch with reduced technical issues.

“When Battlefield 4 launched it was a very complex game,” Soderlund began, “launching on two entirely new console platforms as well as current-gen and PC. We were pushing innovation heavily and delivering 60fps gameplay for 64 players plus the ability to connect via mobile tablet as a commander into the product, coupled with some very innovative features in the gameplay side.

“Based on our pre-launch testing, our beta performance, we were confident the game was ready when it was launched. Shortly after launch, however, we began hearing about problems from our player community, and the development team quickly began to address the situation.”

He confirmed that Battlefield 4’s stability has significantly increased since launch, and added, “How are we learning from this? The challenges that we’ve faced with Battlefield 4 were different from anything that we’ve seen before with other games. There were different issues that only manifest [their] scale in the post-launch live environment.

“We’re taking multiple steps to evaluate what occurred and incorporate those learnings into our development process for future products, so we don’t experience the same problems again.

“I would close on the fact that Battlefield 4 remains an amazing game with massive innovation, and we’re confident that gamers will be logging-on to play for a long time to come.”

Speaking with The Guardian, Soderlund discussed the nature of DICE’s geo-leaderboards and cloud servers. He said, “I sit the floor above the Battlefield development team and there is no lack of ideas down there. It’s just a matter of, how many of them are feasible and how many can we do.”

He continued, “One of the things I think is cool in Battlefield 4 is the geo-leaderboard – you can find out who in your neighbourhood is, say, the best best assault player. That’s cool. And so let’s take that a step further and say, what if we had servers where it pulls in just things as simple as weather and day time from the local area.

“If the server is in Stockholm and it’s sunny, what if the map is sunny, too? What if it’s snowing and dark in Moscow? Okay, let’s have the servers there playing snowy and dark maps. You look at the possibilities and realise you can do so many more things in the cloud-enabled world than we couldn’t do before. That’s frankly one dumb idea from me, but it’s kind of cool!”

It does sound a bit crazy, but would you appreciate such a feature? Let us know what you think below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/02/battlefields-cloud-servers-could-allow-for-real-time-weather-effects/feed/9PS4 & Xbox One generation to last 5-6 years, says EA’s Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/11/28/ps4-xbox-one-generation-to-last-5-6-years-says-eas-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/28/ps4-xbox-one-generation-to-last-5-6-years-says-eas-soderlund/#commentsThu, 28 Nov 2013 16:16:35 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=431128PlayStation 4 is out tomorrow across the UK and Europe, hot on the heels of Xbox One. It’s a crazy time, but EA’s executive vice-president of EA Studios Patrick Soderlund reckons that we’ll be doing the next-gen dance all over again by 2018-19. He feels it’ll be a shorter cycle.

Speaking with MCV, Soderlund said, “This console cycle may have gone on a little bit longer than I would have wanted,” and added, “At the same time, you have seen games like The Last of Us and GTA V at the end of a cycle which perhaps you would not have expected a few years ago. But a five, six year gap is what I expect going forward.”

Moving forward and innovating is key however, and Soderlund feels that EA is capable of doing just that. Next stop: Titanfall. He reckons that praise for Respawn’s shooter has proven this fact. “That response is telling us that gamers don’t want to play the same game every year,” he continued. “And even the games we build on an iterative basis, we have to make sure we keep on innovating or people won’t give us their money.”

Do you think the current cycle will be shorter than the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation? Let us know what you think below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/28/ps4-xbox-one-generation-to-last-5-6-years-says-eas-soderlund/feed/11EA aiming to be “remembered and respected for the games” it makeshttp://www.vg247.com/2013/11/28/ea-aiming-to-be-remembered-and-respected-for-the-games-it-makes/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/28/ea-aiming-to-be-remembered-and-respected-for-the-games-it-makes/#commentsThu, 28 Nov 2013 03:10:51 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=430959EA Studios executive vice president Patrick Söderlund wants the publisher to be remembered for its games – and not for being voted the worst company in America for two years running, for example.

Speaking to MCV, Söderlund said he doesn’t “believe for a second” that EA is the worst company in the US, but that the publisher has to take the message to heart anyway.

“When something like that happens, you have to sit down and ask yourselves ‘Why are people saying these things?’” he said.

“We did that and we started to realise that we are doing things that people don’t like. We looked at something as simple as the Online Pass. People were telling us they didn’t like that. So we weighed up the pros and cons and went ‘Ok. We will remove it.’

“These decisions need to be driven by what consumers want and tell us, and that is where we may have faltered a bit in the past. If we continue to do those types of things, then we will earn people’s trust and respect. We don’t want to be bad, we have no desire to be voted the worst company in America. On the contrary we want to be voted the best.”

Söderlund admitted that it’s hard to please everyone all the time, or even most of the time, but he thinks EA can make headway.

“You are bound to make mistakes, but when you do, just be clear to communicate that you agree it was a mistake, and you are taking the appropriate actions to fix them. Not a single person or company will do everything perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect,” he said.

“My goal is to be seen as the best in the business. I want people to recognise us for the games we make rather than anything else. Whether that is the Worst Company in America or whatever people don’t like. We need to be remembered and respected for the games we make.”

EA can also learn from positive feedback; early reactions to Titanfall show that EA is doing the right thing backing new kinds of games, Söderlund said.

“That response is telling us that gamers don’t want to play the same game every year, and even the games we build on an iterative basis, we have to make sure we keep on innovating or people won’t give us their money,” he said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/28/ea-aiming-to-be-remembered-and-respected-for-the-games-it-makes/feed/11EA isn’t giving up until Battlefield “is number one,” says Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/19/ea-isnt-giving-up-until-battlefield-is-number-one-says-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/19/ea-isnt-giving-up-until-battlefield-is-number-one-says-soderlund/#commentsThu, 19 Sep 2013 13:05:25 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=409927Patrick Soderlund, EVP of EA’s games label, has said the firm isn’t going to give up until Battlefield bests Call of Duty as the number one shooter.

Speaking with MCV, Soderlund said not only is such competition good for the market, but for both companies as well.

“Competition is good,” said Soderlund. “It brings the best out of people. If there was only Battlefield or only Call of Duty, then the development teams might have been a little bit more content. We don’t look at them necessarily and mimic what they do.

“But we think about them. Maybe they weren’t thinking about us much when we made Battlefield 3, but I can tell you, they are thinking about us now. They need too. We made a dent in the FPS market and we took share from them. And I am not going to give up until I’m No.1 and I am going to make sure I’m No.1.

“We are spending a tonne of money on this, our teams are killing themselves every year to make great games. I want to give our consumers the best I can. We will strive to be No.1. If I said: ‘No.5 is probably fine,’ it’s hard for people to rally behind that message.

“But I wouldn’t say we could be No.1 if I didn’t think we could. I think I have the right team, the right product and the right strategy to get there.”

We’ll see what happens once both shooters are released this fall: Battlefield 4 will be available October 29 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. The game will also be made available on PS4 November 12 in North America and in Europe on November 29. The Xbox One version will be released in North America on November 19 and in Europe on November 21.

Call of Duty: Ghosts releases on PC, PS3, Wii U and Xbox 360 on November 5. The PS4 and Xbox One versions land alongside the new consoles.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/19/ea-isnt-giving-up-until-battlefield-is-number-one-says-soderlund/feed/28EA takes risks, has 6-8 new IP in the works, claims Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/06/ea-has-6-8-new-ip-in-the-works-claims-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/06/ea-has-6-8-new-ip-in-the-works-claims-soderlund/#commentsFri, 06 Sep 2013 10:20:09 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=405685EA Games head Patrick Soderlund has stated that the company has between six and eight new IP in the works, following claims that it’s not making enough original titles.

Speaking with MCV, Soderlund highlighted the Star Wars license and Mirror’s Edge as key examples of the publisher taking risks.

He added, “We are working on a new Mirror’s Edge game, and although that’s not a new IP, it is a revival done in a new way. We are developing Star Wars Battlefront, which to us is a new IP, even though it isn’t technically. We have six to eight completely new IPs in the works. The day we stop making new IP is when we go onto life support. We need to incubate new ideas and push creative boundaries.”

Soderlund’s right, Star Wars and Mirror’s Edge aren’t new IP at all, so what do you think of the quote above? Is EA a risk-taker, or could it stand to be more adventurous?

Let us know below.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/06/ea-has-6-8-new-ip-in-the-works-claims-soderlund/feed/6Frostbite Go engine to make “real” games possible in the mobile sector, says EAhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/04/frostbite-go-engine-to-make-real-games-possible-in-the-mobile-sector-says-dice/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/04/frostbite-go-engine-to-make-real-games-possible-in-the-mobile-sector-says-dice/#commentsWed, 04 Sep 2013 10:01:54 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=404863Frostbite Go will debut in DICE’s Commander Mode in Battlefield 4 later this year, but EA Games Label EVP Patrick Soderlund has teased bigger plans to disrupt the mobile sector with the tech down the line.

Speaking with IGN, Soderlund said, “There’s obviously a longer term goal with Frostbite Go. We think that we can push the boundaries on mobile as much as we’re pushing the boundaries on console and PC in the long term.

“So this is the first Go – version 1.0. Versions 2 and 3 we’re going to start making games on Frostbite Go that will be featuring things that you’ve seen in the regular Frostbite code, like destruction and those types of things. We think we can do something dramatic there, with the mobile sector, and make real games on those machines.”

He added that Frostbite Go is, “basically the same tech base and code base [as Frostbite], but with a different rendering solution, and then specific mobile features in it, like network traffic over 3G, touch-screen interface changes and those types of things.

“It’s just a natural evolution. iPhones, tablets, Android phones are becoming a natural way for us to connect with our games, so we need to support it. We looked at other external technologies, [but] we had a bunch of guys that convinced me that building Frostbite Go was a good idea, so that’s what we’re doing.”

Are you convinced that Frostbite Go can create “real” gaming experiences on mobile – as Soderlund put it? – or is this still a pipedream? Let us know what you think below

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/04/frostbite-go-engine-to-make-real-games-possible-in-the-mobile-sector-says-dice/feed/2EA wants its development teams to implement second screen gaming in all projects going forwardhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/29/ea-wants-its-development-teams-to-think-about-second-screen-gaming-in-all-projects-going-forward/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/29/ea-wants-its-development-teams-to-think-about-second-screen-gaming-in-all-projects-going-forward/#commentsThu, 29 Aug 2013 19:34:44 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=403417Second screen gaming is becoming more important to EA as the way media is consumed changes, and if games label head Patrick Soderlund has any say, he’s going to make sure his development teams implement it as “a meaningful extension” to games.

Speaking with Polygon, Soderlund said due to consumers being more capable than ever of multitasking and using social media to make decisions, people are expecting more from day-to-day interactions which translate over into their gaming experiences.

This is why, according to Soderlund, EA is working hard to incorporate social and second screen options into its games.

“We’ve been on that train for awhile, I can’t say we’ve been perfect, but we’ve done a lot like the the whole idea of autolog in Need for Speed was because of a behavioral change in consumer minds,” he said. “If you look at how [the smartphone] affected your life, how Facebook affected your life, I can’t watch TV without using [a smartphone] five times during a movie. It’s ridiculous, but that’s what it is, and everyone does that.

“The social revolution we’ve seen because of technology and services, like Facebook and Twitter and those kind of things, has changed how games are played. And will continue to have an impact on how we will design games from the get go.

“Today, this is one of the first things our game guys design when they start looking at Star Wars: Battlefront, which is going through design right now. One of the first things we talked about is these things, that tells you it’s in the minds of the people who make the games. What we are seeing is the start of it, and it’s just going to take a bigger part of games.”

EA is incorporating second screen gaming with two of its biggest titles to launch in the latter half of 2013: Battlefield 4 and Need For Speed: Rivals, and it’s something Soderlund plans on continuing to push as long as he is the one approving game designs.

“As long as I’m doing what I’m doing and talking with teams and approving the designs, I’m going to force them to at least try to think about it as at least a meaningful extension to the game,” he said.

“Sometimes a second screen, in the Battlefield case, will make the game accessible. I can command troops. I can see what’s going on my second screen, while I’m playing in front of me. It’s not necessarily about a feature, it’s about making the game easier to understand and to play as well.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/29/ea-wants-its-development-teams-to-think-about-second-screen-gaming-in-all-projects-going-forward/feed/13Mirror’s Edge reboot wouldn’t have been possible on current platforms, says Söderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/08/21/mirrors-edge-reboot-wouldnt-have-been-possible-on-current-generation-platforms-says-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/21/mirrors-edge-reboot-wouldnt-have-been-possible-on-current-generation-platforms-says-soderlund/#commentsWed, 21 Aug 2013 22:03:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=400908Mirror’s Edge is a “true next-gen idea” which would not have been possible on current platforms, according to EA Games vice president Patrick Söderlund, who said bringing it to next-gen “felt right.”

“It just happened to be a game design that I don’t think you can build on an old-gen machine,” Söderlund said. “It doesn’t work the way it’s designed. And that also appeals to me. We could maybe get it to work on one, but we would have to compromise on too many things. With this we didn’t have to. It’s a true next-gen idea. With next-gen execution and that felt right.

“It was something that I just looked at and said, we have it, let’s do this. It wasn’t so much the story, even though that’s very important, but it was about the game and how the game was going to be played and what you can do and what Faith does. It amplified the things that were good with Mirror’s Edge and downplayed the things that were bad in a very natural cool way and combined it with a bunch of really inspiring cool things.”

Mirror’s Edge will be an “open-world action adventure game” on next-gen consoles and PC and is currently without a release date.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/08/21/mirrors-edge-reboot-wouldnt-have-been-possible-on-current-generation-platforms-says-soderlund/feed/15Mirror’s Edge reboot announce took so long due to working out “stunning” next-gen concepthttp://www.vg247.com/2013/07/26/mirrors-edge-reboot-announce-too-so-long-due-to-working-out-stunning-next-gen-concept/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/26/mirrors-edge-reboot-announce-too-so-long-due-to-working-out-stunning-next-gen-concept/#commentsFri, 26 Jul 2013 11:04:31 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=392364Mirror’s Edge got a reboot announcement at E3 last month after years of fans asking what DICE was planning to do with the IP. EA Game’s executive vice president Patrick Söderlund has shed new light on the matter in an interview.

Speaking with GameReactor, Söderlund explained, “It’s taken this long because we wanted to get to the right concept and the right idea. And Sara Jansson who is producer on it, when she pitched her idea to me and Karl-Magnus, the GM for DICE, I was frankly blown away. I’m like “Finally, you’ve got it!”

“And when you hear something like that… She pitched an idea that frankly could only be built on gen 4, is a stunning concept, and when she came to us we knew we had it. And yes, we’ve been testing ideas and we’ve been prototyping stuff, and I’m glad that we waited to get the right idea.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/26/mirrors-edge-reboot-announce-too-so-long-due-to-working-out-stunning-next-gen-concept/feed/20Battlefield 4: DICE bringing signature multiplayer elements to campaignhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/06/28/battlefield-4-dice-bringing-signature-multiplayer-elements-to-campaign/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/28/battlefield-4-dice-bringing-signature-multiplayer-elements-to-campaign/#commentsFri, 28 Jun 2013 12:19:04 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=383542Battlefield 4 developer DICE is looking to address the disparity between the series’ campaign and multiplayer modes, by bringing key elements of online play into the single-player component. The studio has shed light on what this means in a new interview.

Speaking with OPM, DICE’s general manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson, said “There are signature multiplayer elements that we want to bring into single-player. We want to give the player a choice. Do they want to go for the sneaky approach with a sniper rifle and a silenced pistol, or do they want to take a jeep and have the entire squad shoot at everything they see?”

To emulate multiplayer strategies, players will also be able order their AI squad-mates to provide suppressing or covering fire, and you’ll also be faced with wide open terrain littered with vehicles – similar to the Bad Company campaigns.

Does this openness appeal to you? Are you happy to see the studio taking a Bad Company approach to the single-player environments? Let us know below.

Meanwhile, rumour has it Battlefield 4’s second DLC pack ‘Second Assault’ – in which four classic Battlefield maps are remade in Frostbite 3 – will include Caspian Border and Operation Metro. Get the details here.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/28/battlefield-4-dice-bringing-signature-multiplayer-elements-to-campaign/feed/12Star Wars: Battlefront and DICE is “match made in heaven”, says Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/06/24/star-wars-battlefront-and-dice-is-match-made-in-heaven-says-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/24/star-wars-battlefront-and-dice-is-match-made-in-heaven-says-soderlund/#commentsMon, 24 Jun 2013 13:20:49 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=381895Star Wars: Battlefront is being revived by DICE and the pairing has made a lot of people happy, especially EA’s Patrick Söderlund, who has shed light on how the Battlefield studio came to work on one of the most regularly requested returns to gaming in years.

Speaking with CVG about EA’s E3 conference line-up, Söderlund said, “We showed Titanfall, a brand new IP from Respawn, Mirror’s Edge, which is a beloved return for many people, and Star Wars: Battlefront, which I think is a match made in heaven – DICE building that games feels right.”

On the Star War: Battlefront revival, Söderlund revealed that it “was almost not happening”, and Söderlund added, “It was just something as boring as resources and availability. The DICE guys Karl Magnus Troedsson and Patrick Bach were talking and I told them we were in dialogues with Disney over this deal and they just looked at me and said, ‘Why haven’t you spoken to us? What are you doing? We want to make Battlefront.’

“DICE is a very particular place and they are very proud of what they do and you don’t really tell them what to do. I didn’t anticipate them wanting to work on a license – they’ve always been new IP or their own IP. But they were just like, ‘we would kill to make this game’ and the whole studio started talking about it like, ‘please give us this game’.

“That’s when I called Frank [Gibeau, EA Labels boss] and I realised we had something here. ‘If they want it that badly, then the game will be freaking awesome – we have to figure it out’. So we figured it out, we got them the game and it was that simple. They begged to do it, the opportunity was there and that’s exactly why you’ll see a game that will be what it needs to be.”

Söderlund stated that Patrick Bach and the team at DICE’s Stockholm base is working on the project, and added, “When it comes to the actual game, the approach we’re going to take is it’s a rebirth of the brand, it is Star War: Battlefront done the DICE way.

“The original Battlefront games actually took a lot of inspiration from Battlefield and they’ve been publicly open about that. As the guys said, the game is ‘coming home’. That’s as much as we can say.”

So it’s basically the Star Wars: Battlefront series, developed by DICE, the way DICE wants to develop it.

You can’t get much better than that can you? Maybe you can? Let us know what you think below.

Meanwhile, EA’s Frank Gibeau has said that Star Wars: Battlefront won’t just re-hash Battlefield components. Check out what he said here.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/24/star-wars-battlefront-and-dice-is-match-made-in-heaven-says-soderlund/feed/11Visceral “working on something very exciting,” Dead Space franchise “isn’t cancelled”http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/15/visceral-working-on-something-else-very-exciting-dead-space-franchise-isnt-cancelled/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/15/visceral-working-on-something-else-very-exciting-dead-space-franchise-isnt-cancelled/#commentsSat, 15 Jun 2013 13:23:19 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=379228EA games label EVP Patrick Söderlund has said the Dead Space franchise hasn’t be cancelled, as a March report stated, but then again Visceral Games isn’t working on Dead Space 4 at the moment either.

“I wouldn’t say it’s [Dead Space franchise] cancelled at all,” Söderlund said. “Is that team working on a Dead Space game today? No they’re not. They’re working on something else very exciting. You have to think of it from that perspective. Is it better to put them on the fourth version of a game they’ve done three previous versions of before? Or is it better to put them on something new that they want to build, that they have passion for?

“I am of the utmost opinion that we have to put the best possible games in the hands of our fans. How you get to a great game, the first thing you need is a great development team that have a passion for building what they’re building. That’s a simple parameter. Everything else follows. Money, time, everything else follows. It’s less relevant. That’s ultimately how you get success.

“It’s as simple as that. Will there be another Dead Space game? Who knows? Have we killed it? No, of course not. But right now that dev team is focused on something else that you and other gamers will be very happy with.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/13/star-wars-battlefront-is-not-battlefront-3/feed/8Medal of Honor dev Danger Close “doesn’t exist any more”http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/13/medal-of-honor-dev-danger-close-doesnt-exist-any-more/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/13/medal-of-honor-dev-danger-close-doesnt-exist-any-more/#commentsThu, 13 Jun 2013 21:42:12 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=378855Medal of Honor developer Danger Close has been disbanded, EA has confirmed, with DICE LA taking its place and serving a support role for the main Swedish studio.

“Danger Close as it was doesn’t exist any more,” EA Games boss Patrick Söderlund told Eurogamer.

“There are people who left LA, people who work with DICE LA, and there are some who work in other parts of EA, as always when something gets dismantled.”

“Imagine stuff like potential expansion packs and premium services being managed and handled out of LA,” he said.

“But the main game, Battlefront, is being built in Sweden. And so is Mirror’s Edge. And so is Battlefield 4. It’s a way for us to expand the DICE universe, to be able to do more. They are helping. Who knows where this will take them long term? Right now they’re focused on helping.”

The executive said that having a DICE outpost in LA allows the developer to take advantage of a broader talent pool.

“Where can we find the right talent and people we think have critical skills we need? When you’re in Sweden, Stockholm is a gigantic gaming city with DICE and Mojang and all the other companies, but we realised we needed to extend our reach if we wanted to get to the breadth of talent we wanted,” he said.

“We also thought we could export some of the good things about DICE into here. Since the DICE LA announcement we had a lot of pressure on that studio from people who want to come work there. And after E3, as you can probably imagine, there will be more.”

Danger Close was founded in 1995 as DreamWorks Interactive. EA picked it up in 2000, and merged it with Command & Conquer developer Westwood Studios and EA Pacific in 2003, shedding much of its RTS talent in the process.

The studio’s new name, Danger Close, was attached to it in 2010, when EA announced the team would focus on rebooting the Medal of Honor series. It produced two games – 2010’s Medal of Honor and 2012’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter, the latter of which did so poorly that EA took the franchise “out of rotation”.

“We of course would want to go further in the future with stuff, but we’re just starting out. It’s pretty frustrating. We want to be everywhere. We want to put Titanfall everywhere, but that’s where we’re at.”

Speaking to Eurogamer, Titanfall lead artist Joel Emslie said Respawn would like to bring the shooter to fans everywhere.

“When you boil it down, we would love to be everywhere, but we’re just starting out,” he said, going on to suggest that focusing on fewer platforms made it easier to produce a high-quality game.

“It comes down to quality, not quantity. It just boiled down to, okay, how can we hit this as hard as can and get it on as many platforms as possible and deliver the quality, the 60 hertz, out of the gate? That was the goal.

“We of course would want to go further in the future with stuff, but we’re just starting out. It’s pretty frustrating. We want to be everywhere. We want to put Titanfall everywhere, but that’s where we’re at. We’re starting there.”

Asked whether a PlayStation release might occur in the future, the developer said it’s “definitely not out of the question”.

“We have a huge appreciation for the fans. We love all our fans, whatever console they support. So yeah. We want to make everybody happy, but this is where we’re at right now,” he said.

But EA Games Label head and former DICE leader Patrick Söderlund was much more cautious, stating that the exclusivity deal is a business arrangement that he can’t talk about. He also can’t talk about the possibility of releasing on other platforms.

“We haven’t communicated anything on that, and I can’t comment on that right now. We’re proud to be exclusive to Xbox,” he said.

In a call to investors reported by CVG, EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau said EA has a “very balanced portfolio” across multiple platforms, and the decision to go console exclusive with this one title is no indicative of a general trend.

“Strategically we’re going to be multiplatform, platform agnostic, and our history shows we go where the audience is and so we will do that,” he said.

“However, there are tactical opportunities from time to time on a title or on a service component that we do enter into a relationship with one or two of the first parties on that particular opportunity and we’ll execute on it. “Titanfall is an example of that.

“It’s a product that came in through our EA Partners group, it’s a partnership with Respawn, and there was an opportunity for Microsoft, EA and Respawn to create a tactical opportunity to make Titanfall exclusive to Microsoft.

“But if you look at our entire line-up beyond Titanfall, it’s really focused on multiplatform and over the lifecycle of these [platforms] we’re really not tilting one way or the other. We’re very balanced and we’re going to continue to support both equally.”

Titanfall is headed to PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in 2014.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/titanfall-playstation-release-possible-says-dev-but-execs-demur/feed/16Battlefield 3 “looked a little bit too much” to Call of Dutyhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/battlefield-3-looked-a-little-bit-too-much-to-call-of-duty/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/battlefield-3-looked-a-little-bit-too-much-to-call-of-duty/#commentsWed, 12 Jun 2013 01:06:01 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=377699Battlefield 3 was good, but it might have been better if DICE hadn’t been so conscious of Call of Duty, studio boss Patrick Soderlund has admitted

“One can advocate that even though Battlefield 3 was a gigantic success for us, I would say we may have looked a little bit too much at our competitor,” the EA Games executive vice president Patrick Soderlund told GamesIndustry, almost certainly referring to Activision’s Call of Duty.

“And we’ve been criticized for that, especially on the single-player side. But when we started doing Battlefield 4, we said we were going to make the game we think is the right game for us and the consumers. Again, you can’t be arrogant about it. You have to be a little paranoid about what others are doing, but staying true to what you’re doing is the key.”

Soderlund also had some inetresting things to say about this console transition, saying that it demands more of developers than the last.

“Consumers and press have been telling us they want something different. Last time around, we didn’t really have that problem,” he said.

“If you think about PS2 to PS3 era, it was all about high-def gaming. You can now enjoy this in high-def. They were fine with the same game they could play on the PS2 because it looked so much better. You can’t do that anymore. The games on PS3 and 360 still look OK. It’s about what we do outside of graphics that will make a difference, I think.”

Soderlund said gamers want “a deep, engaging single-player campaign”, “multiplayer with seven to ten game modes”, “a huge variety of locations” as well as “some kind of service to support the game post-launch that is not ripping consumers off but actually adds value”.

“People choose one or maybe two games and they stick with those, and they want to be in that experience for a long time. So we as game creators need to make sure we fulfill their needs, to keep ahead of the curve,” he said.

Battlefield 4 is due in October on PC as well as current consoles, with next-gen launch due whenever hardware surfaces.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/12/battlefield-3-looked-a-little-bit-too-much-to-call-of-duty/feed/27EA doesn’t want DICE to become “a Battlefield factory,” says Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/20/ea-doesnt-want-dice-to-become-a-battlefield-factory-says-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/20/ea-doesnt-want-dice-to-become-a-battlefield-factory-says-soderlund/#commentsTue, 20 Nov 2012 15:29:40 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=317363EA Games vice-president Patrick Soderlund has said DICE is working on more than just Battlefield games at the Stockholm studio.

Speaking with OXM, Soderlund observed said there are roughly 300 people working at DICE and not all of them are working on the Battlefield franchise.

“Not all of them are working on Battlefield things, and that’s intentional, because we don’t want to become a Battlefield factory,” he said. “The minute we start saying ‘you’re going to make a Battlefield game for the rest of your life’, they’re going to go some place else. So for them to make great Battlefield games there need to be other things for them to do as well.

“That’s why we have people who move around quite a bit. And then obviously we have a boatload of people that just want to make Battlefield because they love it.

“Same thing with the team in San Francisco that are making Dead Space. It’s a stunning team and they’re passionate about what they do, and they love making Dead Space. Then the answer’s ‘well, then make Dead Space’. Then we have to figure out how to sell it and make it successful.”

Soderlund touched upon the need for innovation and new IPs last month when he said the day EA stops doing new IP is “the day we put ourselves on life support and then we’re slowly going to die.”

“It’s not only needed for the industry and for the consumers but it’s also needed for the creatives,” he said. “They need something different to think about. They have a lot of creativity built into them that they need to get out. The day that we stop thinking about new things… is the day that I’ll probably leave the games industry.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/20/ea-doesnt-want-dice-to-become-a-battlefield-factory-says-soderlund/feed/5EA’s Soderlund: “The day we stop doing new IP is the day we put ourselves on life support”http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/03/eas-soderlund-the-day-we-stop-doing-new-ip-is-the-day-we-put-ourselves-on-life-support/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/03/eas-soderlund-the-day-we-stop-doing-new-ip-is-the-day-we-put-ourselves-on-life-support/#commentsWed, 03 Oct 2012 14:20:39 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=303189EA Europe’s label boss Patrick Soderlund has said the firm is “innovative” despite criticisms to the contrary, and cited Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted as two such examples of the firm’s commitment to innovation.

“A lot of people criticise EA for not being innovative”, Soderlund said. “But look at what EA has done with Battlefield 3. We said, here’s a game that looks like nothing you’ve ever seen before. We looked at animation, we looked at audio, we looked at every single part of the visual experience and we said: how can we change this? I think if that’s not innovation, I don’t know what innovation is.

“Then you look at Most Wanted this year and Need for Speed really looks cool and different. Those things don’t just happen by mistake, those are all diligent strategies with someone saying: ‘probably not good enough’.”

Speaking with MCV, Soderlund concurred that EA has “three to five” games in the works for next-gen consoles, a statement which EA labels president Frank Gibeau has made previously, but wouldn’t go into detail on the projects.

“To me, the day we stop doing new IP is the day we put ourselves on life support and then we’re slowly going to die,” he said. “It’s not only needed for the industry and for the consumers but it’s also needed for the creatives.

“They need something different to think about. They have a lot of creativity built into them that they need to get out. The day that we stop thinking about new things that are not Need for Speed is the day that I’ll probably leave the games industry.”

EA expects new consoles from Sony and Microsoft to land at retail “in about a year’s time.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/03/eas-soderlund-the-day-we-stop-doing-new-ip-is-the-day-we-put-ourselves-on-life-support/feed/8Physical retail could disappear in 10 years, maybe sooner, says EA’s Soderlundhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/08/21/physical-retail-could-disappear-in-10-years-maybe-sooner-says-eas-soderlund/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/21/physical-retail-could-disappear-in-10-years-maybe-sooner-says-eas-soderlund/#commentsTue, 21 Aug 2012 19:29:24 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=288720Patrick Soderlund, executive vice president of EA Games, believes boxed games will commercially go the way of the dinosaur within 10 years as digital becomes the norm.

Speaking with CVG, Soderlund said it will be a tricky transition as many publishers, including EA, know that “packaged goods work,” but long-term, more consumers will opt for digital.

“I think [the switch will] be sooner than people think,” said Soderlund. “I think it’s going to be sooner than ten years. That’s my personal opinion, and might not be what EA thinks.

“We know that packaged goods work, and the majority of our current revenue comes from that. That’s still a viable business mode. In the long term, we’ll see more and more people gravitate to downloaded content. I happen to think that there’s something about physical content, like books, that’s collectable and satisfying to own. I still want physical content but I’m not part of the new generation of gamers.

“Looking back five years and looking at today, there is such a vast difference to how I consume entertainment and how I connect with people. We just have to embrace these changes rather than be afraid of them.”

Soderlund said the industry should embrace change instead of being afraid of it, because when a company doesn’t “adapt” it becomes “irrelevant,” as with releasing franchises across multiple platforms.

“I absolutely believe that’s the case,” he said.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/21/physical-retail-could-disappear-in-10-years-maybe-sooner-says-eas-soderlund/feed/2EA to publishers: ‘Don’t be afraid of change’http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/21/ea-to-publishers-dont-be-afraid-of-change/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/21/ea-to-publishers-dont-be-afraid-of-change/#commentsTue, 21 Aug 2012 11:42:02 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=288492EA’s Patrick Soderlund has revealed to CVG that publishers need to deliver consistent quality over existing and new formats or they risk becoming irrelevant, as well embracing new ideas in the industry.

When asked about EA’s approach to expanding its portfolio through mobile apps and ports, head of EA games label Soderlund replied, “We need to go back to the essence of these games and go from there to see how they fit beyond console and PC.”

“The idea of making a Need for Speed port on the iPhone, I just don’t agree with it. What’s the point? You have to play to the strengths of the platform that you’re using,” Soderlund added.

On the subject of adapting to change, Soderlund told CVG, “I look at it as evolution. Looking back five years and looking at today, there is such a vast difference to how I consume entertainment and how I connect with people.”

“We just have to embrace these changes rather than be afraid of them”, Soderlund concluded, “I think some people are so surprised by the changes that are happening that they become afraid of it. They try to stick to what they know and that’s the danger. If you don’t adapt you become irrelevant. I absolutely believe that’s the case.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/08/21/ea-to-publishers-dont-be-afraid-of-change/feed/13EA – over 800,000 have signed up for Battlefield Premiumhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/06/29/ea-800000-have-signed-up-for-battlefield-premium/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/29/ea-800000-have-signed-up-for-battlefield-premium/#commentsFri, 29 Jun 2012 17:03:50 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=273771EA Games chief Patrick Soderlund has told USA Today that over 800,000 people signed up for its Battlefield Premium Service during its first two weeks of availability. “We are very pleased with the performance so far,” said Soderlund. “We’re actually only two weeks into it, so it’s a little early to tell how this is going to pay off. It certainly it looks very promising right now.” Soderlund also said EA’s looking for ways ti implement the service into other products, echoing recent remarks made by labels boss Frank Gibeau.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/29/ea-800000-have-signed-up-for-battlefield-premium/feed/25EA’s Soderlund: Frostbite 2 “built for the next generation”http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/19/eas-soderlund-frostbite-2-built-for-the-next-generation/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/19/eas-soderlund-frostbite-2-built-for-the-next-generation/#commentsTue, 19 Jun 2012 04:28:18 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=270559Former DICE CEO turned EA Games boss Patrick Soderlund has said the engine powering Battlefield 3 and Medal of Honor: Warfighter aspires to tech well beyond what consumers have on hand right now.

Gamasutra asked Soderlund if DICE had aimed for better than average specs with the PC version of Battlefield 3.

“Yeah, I’ll be honest with you – Frostbite 2 was built for the next generation. That’s how we started it,” the executive admitted.

“We had that in mind and we said, ‘We’re going to have to build something that can scale.’ It doesn’t mean that what you see in Battlefield 3 is the end state. That’s the beginning; that’s where we start and then we go forward. But we have a tech base that makes me feel really confident in how we’re positioned for what’s going to come in the future.”

Sioderlund said Frostbite 2 isn’t just “tech for the sake of making tech” but gameplay driven based on key areas of improvement noted in earlier DICE games.

“Animation was a key component that we said, ‘That ain’t cutting it.’ And how do we not just make a little leap, but how do we make a gigantic leap in animation? And that gravitated us towards our FIFA team, who have an advanced animation system,” he said.

“Audio is another thing. And then the other part is rendering and destruction. And destruction is cool, but we said we want to make gameplay-altering destruction, not just destruction for the sake of it. It needs to be, “Okay, I can shoot through that wall and kill someone; I can take away cover.”

“We take the philosophy on not forcing tech upon anyone,” Soderlund added, noting that Danger Close opted to use the Frostbite engine for Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

Frostbite also powered Need for Speed: The Run.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/19/eas-soderlund-frostbite-2-built-for-the-next-generation/feed/2EA looking into sub models which “maximize” investments, get more people playinghttp://www.vg247.com/2012/03/13/ea-looking-into-sub-models-which-maximize-investments-get-more-people-playing/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/13/ea-looking-into-sub-models-which-maximize-investments-get-more-people-playing/#commentsTue, 13 Mar 2012 14:42:46 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=242299EA Games label head Patrick Soderlund has told VentureBeat it’s “fair to say” the firm is looking at a subscription models similar to Call of Duty Elite, and how the firm can “maximize” its investments while getting more peopl playing its products.

Speaking with the site during GDC, Soderlund said like “all other companies” it’s only conductive to the business to look at any way possible to maximize both profit and public consumption.

“I think it’s fair to say that we’re looking at that,” he said. “That may take us to different places, but we’re not really talking about where that is yet.”

However, he doesn’t see a sub-service coming to the Battlefield or Medal of Honor series just to take Call of Duty “down” as, again, any decision made will have to be good for both the business and the consumer.

“When it comes to taking Call of Duty down, you know what? I don’t look at it like that,” he said. “We are in this business because we want to make the best possible products. Call of Duty is a shooter, but it’s a different shooter. And I think they have a market; we have a market. I’m fine with what I’m doing.

“I’m going to continue innovating and doing as best as I can with my teams. Hopefully that’s going to lead us to more units [sold] and more happy consumers.”

Speaking with IGN, Soderlund said he’s also pleased at the number of new players the firm welcomed into the Battlefield fold. This helped the title achieve a banner 5 million sales in its first week, making it “the fastest selling game in the history of EA” despite a few launch hiccups.

“The fact that we’re seeing a lot of new Battlefield players come into the franchise means a lot to me,” he said. “That’s been something that I’ve been trying to push on for a long time, that we wanted to go wider, become a broader, established IP, and it seems like that’s really working for us, so that’s cool.

“Given the unprecedented user volume that we’ve seen, we have obviously had some hiccups during the week, and we’ve been working very actively on solving those, and most of the issues are behind us. The game is performing a lot better. Most people had a very smooth weekend, and we continue to improve the service as we go, basically.”

With the upcoming holiday season pressing, Soderlund is confident consumers will continue to show interest in Battlefield 3, even with seasonal juggernaut Call of Duty releasing next week as its biggest competitor.

“The holiday season is clearly very competitive, as we know,” he said. “We all respect what Call of Duty brings and what they’re going to come with, and I think that we have an industry-leading multiplayer game that will make people want to stay with us, frankly.

“If you look at all the reviews that we’ve gotten, not a single one that I’ve seen has been negative towards the multiplayer. In fact, many state that the multiplayer is the multiplayer experience to have, the best in the world. And if I can continue to harness that and work on improving that and give the consumers more of that, then hopefully they’re going to feel loyal to us and stay.”

“My focus has got to be on our product, and not necessarily on the others. And right now we’re out in the market, and that’s all I know. When they come out, they come out, and I wish them the best of luck. They’re partners in this industry, and I play all their games and I look forward to many of them, and all I can do is try and make sure that people stay interested and want to have more Battlefield.”

The first bit of content to arrive for BF3 is the Back to Karkand pack, which will be made available in December. It will be free to those who pre-ordered and £11.99 for those who didn’t.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/11/02/ea-confident-bf3-dlc-will-retain-players-despite-impending-mw3-release/feed/27Soderlund hints at new Mirror’s Edge-related projecthttp://www.vg247.com/2011/07/06/soderlund-hints-at-new-mirrors-edge-related-project/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/06/soderlund-hints-at-new-mirrors-edge-related-project/#commentsWed, 06 Jul 2011 14:04:17 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=184643EA Games Europe VP Patrick Soderlund has reiterated that the company has not given up on Mirror’s Edge, but also hinted its also back at work on something related to the IP.

“I loved Mirror’s Edge and what we did with Mirror’s Edge,” Soderlund told GameStar.

“We have not abandoned the franchise. And we are working on something – but I’m not willing to talk more about that.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/06/soderlund-hints-at-new-mirrors-edge-related-project/feed/13“As of now,” DICE doesn’t have plans to release mod tools for Battlefield 3http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/05/as-of-now-dice-doesnt-have-plans-to-release-mod-tools-for-battlefield-3/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/07/05/as-of-now-dice-doesnt-have-plans-to-release-mod-tools-for-battlefield-3/#commentsTue, 05 Jul 2011 20:09:35 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=184481EA Europe VP Patrick Söderlund has said DICE doesn’t currently have plans to add modding tools to Battlefield 3, as it thinks the Frostbite 2 engine will make modding “too big a of a challenge” for people.

Hear that splat? Yeah, we did too. Somewhere, someone’s brain just exploded. All the way over here.

Speaking with the German site GameStar, Söderlund said with the destructible environments, modding for BF3 would just be too “tricky”.

“As of now, we are not going to make any modding tools,” said Söderlund. “If you look at the Frostbite engine, and how complex it is, it’s going to be very difficult for people to mod the game, because of the nature of the set up of levels, of the destruction and all those things… it’s quite tricky.

“So we think it’s going to be too big of a challenge for people to make a mod.”

We expect unofficial mods to start popping up not long after the game’s October release, with or without developer-sanctioned mod tools or not. Modders are an industrious crowd, ya know.